Suffragette is the story is of an everyday working class woman, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) as she gets swept up in the early feminist cause for the right to vote.Maud’s story is intentionally one which we are supposed to identify with, everyday people who can, together make a change in the world, it’s just a shame Maud is a bit of a dull character who is surrounded by much more interesting women.

The film is good, with solid acting from Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and a particularly good performance by Anne-Marie Duff as fellow factory worker and suffragette Violet Miller. A blink and you’ll miss her cameo from Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst and Brendan Gleeson as a sinister police chief.The film feels a bit tame by comparison to what history tells us about these extraordinary women. The most shocking thing in the film comes right at the end when a list of countries and the dates at which they allowed women the vote come up on the screen. (Switzerland 1971!)

Suffragette shows an important part of history that deserves to be seen but it’s a watered down version of these revolutionary women.